My guest is Peggy Cahill, who became ill after being exposed to isocyanate chemicals from the offgassing of ordinary spray foam insulation. She will tell us how this affected her health as well as her efforts to educate, create awareness and advocate at the state and local level. Peggy’ s professional experience has spanned over 30 years working as an advocate at the state and local level for underserved groups, including children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities, inner city children at risk and adolescents with mental health challenges. She holds a Master of Education degree and is presently working as a program development consultant and freelance writer, creating art and culture programs for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners.

 

 

My guest is Beth Terry. After learning about the devastating effects of plastic pollution on the environment and human health, this Oakland, california accountant began an experiment to see if she could live without buying any new plastic. Since then, she has reduced her plastic waste to less than 2% of the national average. That experiment turned into the popular blog MyPlasticFreeLife.com and new book Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too. A founding member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Terry gives presentations on plastic-free living and why, despite what some critics assert, our personal actions really do make a difference. Her work and life have been profiled in the award-winning film Bag It, as well as Susan Freinkel’s book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story and Captain Charles Moore’s Plastic Ocean. – See more at: http://myplasticfreelife.com

My guest is Mike Schade is the Markets Campaign Coordinator with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), a national environmental health organization that was founded in 1980 by Love Canal activist Lois Gibbs. Lois became involved in toxics issues after finding out her entire neighborhood had been built on a toxic waste dump. Today CHEJ helps communities form strong local organizations in order to protect neighborhoods from exposure to hazardous wastes. Mike has over a decade of experience working on environmental health and justice issues. For four years, he was the Western New York Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, where he coordinated community, marketplace and policy campaigns, including the Toxic-Free Legacy, Bucket Brigade and Kodak Corporate Accountability campaigns, resulting in substantial victories for environmental and public health. He also worked for the Buffalo Coalition for Economic Justice. At CHEJ, Mike has coordinated the successful national PVC and BPA Marketplace Transformation Campaigns which has convinced some of the world’s biggest companies to phase out PVC, phthalates and BPA. Ethisphere Magazine listed Mike as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007 and the PVC Campaign received the “Path to Victory” Business Ethics Network award. He is the author or co-author of numerous reports including the Wasting of Rural New York State-Factory Farms and Public Health, Volatile Vinyl-the New Shower Curtain’s Chemical Smell, Baby’s Toxic Bottle-BPA Leaching From Popular Baby Bottles, No Silver Lining-An Investigation Into BPA in Canned Foods, and Toxic Toys R Us. He has a BS in Environmental Studies from the State University of NY at Buffalo. http://www.chej.org